A Muslim cleric on Sunday issued a “fatwa” against newly appointed Bihar minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Khurshid alias Firoz Ahmad for chanting Jai Shri Ram, saying his marriage would be terminated for his “mistake”.

Khushid Ahmad, the Janata Dal-United minister for minority affairs and sugar cane development, chanted the slogans in praise of a Hindu deity in the portico of the Bihar assembly a couple of days ago while talking to the media. He also had showed the saffron safety band tied around his wrist to the media, saying he offered prayers at a Hindu temple for the break-up in the erstwhile Grand Alliance [and to] save the state from Lalu Prasad Yadav and his son, Tejashwi Yadav.

Taking the matter seriously, the Imarat-e-Sharia has now slapped a fatwa on the minister.

“By chanting Jai Sri Ram, he has disassociated with the Islam. His marriage also stands cancelled now,” Mufti Supaul Ahmad Qasam of Imarat-e-Sharia, who issued the fatwa, told the media on Sunday.

He would not be cowed down by such threats, the minister said. Though various members of both JDU and BJP has come forward to defend Mr. Ahmad. Their stake is that India is a land of both Ram and Rahim, Gandhiji took name of both in a single breath, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam observed both Ramzan and Navratra. “Ahmad has just reflected the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb of the country”, one of the JDU spokesperson said.